The Gholgrad Institute

The sound of the gate shutting was still fresh in Levai’s mind, as he and the rest of the group marched on the trail that the guard adamantly told them to keep to. The Path itself was cobblestoned and not too hard to walk upon, but still causing annoying bumps under their feet as they marched onwards. It seemed ominous, yet somehow Levai felt a strange sense of calm. A calm that he actively tried to focus on for at least a few seconds before allowing the questions in his mind to overtake again. While everyone remained heavily focused on keeping to the Path, Levai kept his head on a swivel, remaining vigilant for who or whatever might be lurking out in the open. It would have been a great lie for him to make himself believe he wasn’t fearful. He’d happily put on the facade that he was fearless, and easily did so, in front of everyone else. But a healthy portion of fear in the face of so much that was vastly unknown to him was likely a better idea than any other.  He only had caution and suspicion in his mind. What were the real reasons for all the concealment? Surely there was more to it than what he’d been told. How many more cities were there that held everyone from the rest of the world? What made Warlocks so dangerous that they needed to be caged like beasts? While everyone ahead chatted away happily about their lives outside of Oxilian, Levai’s thoughts wandered back to the book Ania had given him. Tucking his staff under his armpit, he decided to open it up and peruse the pages, thinking perhaps some more answers were in there. Griermar, the continent upon which the city of Oxilian stood upon. There was an entire, vast continent of land that Levai lived completely unaware of for so many years, and here he was finally out in it. According to the book, Griermar was actually the largest continent on their planet, Daergōm. Levai skimmed through the book a bit, hoping to find more information on the other continents out there, but there wasn’t much on who or what he shared this planet with. Still, the knowledge of Griermar was plenty. Levai perused the pages until he found a section about Oxilian, which described it as one of many “starting points” for all young Warlocks.

‘Wærlokas, by their very nature, are the most unstable of beings. They are a sordid pairing of Félleás and the infectious blood of D�"monas. Because of this unnatural and dangerous mixture, all Wærlok births must be registered with the Red Court and then the family must move into one of the Walled Cities, Oxilian being one of such. All Wærlok families are legally bound to remain in Oxilian until their child shows signs, an indication of being a Wærlok. Once the signs are shown, the child walks Oxilian’s Path, a trial-by-fire walkway where the truest of powerful Wærlokas are carved out from the weak. At the end of the path, the final Wærlokas are sent through a portal to face their next examination at the Wardstone.’

So that was it. Warlocks just by birth were dangerous creatures. Levai already knew of Félleas, the species that he was. Or used to be at least. In school he was taught that Fél were the only beings in the world, despite not really being told much of what the world actually was. And it seemed from this, it wasn’t anything to do with the parents, but a legally enforced requirement. A part of the resentment Levai had towards his mother shrugged away, replaced with a tiny tinge of regret for getting so angry at her. For a moment, the thought wandered in his mind that his father might not be to blame either, but Levai shook that away. He remembered how she said that his father was a part of the Red Court, and as far as he could see, they were the ones that made the rules. This only further fuelled his resentment for his father and, by extension, this band of ruthless Warlocks. As he continued to turn the page, he was quickly interrupted by a gratingly annoying voice.

“Think you’re gonna make it to the portal, worm?” Drower’s voice taunted Levai while he was in the middle of his reading. Levai was not a firm lover of physical contact and Drower knew this well as he slung a hefty arm over Levai’s shoulders.

“Quicker than you will…” Levai sneered, closing the book and continuing on the path. Drower gave a short scoff, slapping Levai on the back a bit too hard, and placing his hand on the handle of a blade at his side.

“I guess you also got something to give you an advantage”, Levai muttered, glancing at the sword. Drower looked down at it and smirked.

“Beautiful, isn’t it? A gift from my father.” Unsheathing the blade, Drower waved it around a little clumsily, almost dropping it and causing Levai to snigger at him.

“Good for you to laugh, isn’t it, Little Levai? Always thinking you’re so much better and cleverer than everyone else.”

“Well it helps when you are more intelligent than everyone else, which makes it easy to then become better than everyone else.” Drower grimaced at the retort and stopped him in the middle of the Path.

“But you were never stronger than everyone else, were you? I proved that enough times when I beat the life out of you. So if I were you, I would be on your highest guard on this Path. It is as you said, people die here.” Levai held his staff tight in his hand, prompting Drower to look at it and grin. His hand was now fully wrapped around his sword hilt, but then Ania arrived in time to save the day.

“Levai! I want to show you something! Come here!” Quickly, she grabbed him fully by the arm and dragged him away, heading to the front of the marching line. Levai glared back at Drower for a moment before returning his focus to the Path once again.

“I really don't want to see how much worse you two will be once you’re in the magic school together. This rivalry will turn into a war,” Ania murmured as the two walked on ahead. Alongside Ania, Levai had known Drower most of his life as well, and from the beginning the two disliked each other. Drower was always boasting his position, with his father being a member of the Oxilian City Council, and his mother working at the bank. Out of all the people Drower victimised, Levai was the only one that never bent or broke. His stone faced demeanour and unwillingness to show fear, pain, or sadness earned him the nickname “Xal’murgas”, a very unpleasant Göndradhe phrase to mean “dead child”. Many talked about how his face and attitude sometimes made him seem like he was already dead. Where Ania saw a person that needed a bit of affection and friendship, Drower saw a target that he was desperate to break. To this day, Levai had never broken, and he had no intention of starting now.

“I hope so, maybe I can return the service for all the pain he caused me…”

“I mean, didn’t you get enough of that when you… you know…” Levai went quiet again. It wasn’t something he enjoyed talking about, but it was true. Another reason for Drower to hate Levai, many years ago when he decided Drower deserved some pain of his own. It was somewhat an accident, but needless to say, Drower had never owned any pets again since then.

The two started to talk again, when a sound could be heard coming from the distant forest. It was a low howl in the wind but much more distorted and sounding almost sickly, like a diseased animal. Everyone stopped dead in their tracks, with some of them looking frightened, whilst a few others were gripping their items close. Everyone whispered among themselves and Levai found Ania holding his arm tight, though he was too preoccupied with what they were hearing to pull away or even say anything to her. Quietly, she asked what that sound might have come from, but nobody could guess. Ania was likely the more knowledgeable of the group, so if she didn’t know, then whatever it is was bound to be trouble.

“Well I’m not standing here to wait and find out what it is.” Levai turned, almost dragging Ania with him, and continued walking down the path, though a little more briskly. Everyone else began to follow, some of them crouching a little as they timidly continued the journey despite the screeches, which only became louder, and louder. Whatever was making that noise was getting close. The closer it came, the more the group began to realise that it wasn’t just one creature, but many. What started as a brisk walk, turned into a worried jog, then a panicked run as everyone ran down the path. Ania looked back and her eyes widened as she saw where the noises originated. From out of the trees, a huge group of sickly looking creatures sprinted out and charged after them. They were all grey and withered in appearance, looking very similar to some of the residents of Spire Town that Levai had occasionally seen in the past. Cracks had formed on all the visibly exposed areas of their skin, and most of them were sporting strange markings of varying designs on their arms and necks. They were dressed in tattered clothing, the kind that looked not tribal but more just poor, as if they’d retrieved them from a waywards building. Their faces were almost all skeletal, but some of them looked lean and muscular despite still somehow seeming malnourished. The group of creatures sprinted after the teens, screeching and snarling as they bore sharp and more elongated Warlock teeth. All of them seemed to have bloodshot eyes, so badly burned that the colour in their eyes seemed overtaken by red. Levai glanced back and saw them, feeling his heart race knowing that they were gaining quickly. So quick that they might not survive to escape them.

One of the creatures leapt forward, reaching out and managing to grab Drower at the leg, pulling him down and allowing the horde to consume him. Everyone stopped and watched from a distance as the mass of creatures held Drower down. He thrashed and flailed, screaming at the top of his lungs for them to stop, for his friends to help, but everyone stayed still and watched in horror. One of the creatures bore its hand, with long, jagged, scraggly nails on the end. In a swift downward motion, the creature drove the nails into Drower’s exposed belly. Blood sprayed out from the wound, painting the mouth of one of the creatures. It licked the red liquid as it went down with the rest and the sound of ripping and chewing began.

“What the f**k…”, one of the group whispered. Levai felt a churn in his stomach and his mouth began to water. The rising feeling of vomit crept up on him as his throat burned, but he held it down as best he could. Ania, on the other hand, did not. Even with the warm feeling of Ania’s vomit seeping down his shoulder, Levai was far too distracted by the scene in front of him.

“Run… everyone run!” Levai turned and pulled the nearly fainted Ania with him. The group quickly managed to follow, but soon enough the chase was on again. The creatures broke apart from their meal and began chasing after the rest of them. Levai could only look at the path ahead, and though it seemed distant, there looked to be an ending. A huge mound protruding from the ground that was part moss and part stone. The road they followed led into a small opening inside the mound. Levai was sceptical as he reached it, but as he looked between it and the horde chasing them, there really was no choice. Levai and Ania went inside, the rest following. It was a tight fit, small enough really for a child, but everyone managed to get inside, except for one who reached in but was quickly grabbed and pulled backwards.

“Help me!” Three of the group went to him, grabbing his arms and pulling, but an opposing force kept him in place. The boy screeched in terror as the sounds of muscle tearing and bone cracking like branches could be heard from outside. He struggled and fought as best he could but the blood seeping from his gritted teeth showed that it was a losing battle. Levai watched the life slowly leave his eyes, until his body went limp, and it was quickly yanked out of the entryway. There was a dead silence, then, the sounds of growling and chittering filled the area they were in as spiny hands collected in the entry hole. Everyone backed away, but came to a halt as some of them bumped into something solid. Levai looked behind him but could see nothing. That is, until his and a few others weapons began to glow brightly. A faint rainbow of different colours lit up the area, and Levai saw where they were. It was some kind of barrow. A whole tomb area filled with graves, and the structure behind them was a giant stone archway.

“Wait, why are we running? We’re Warlocks! We can fight these things!” one of the boys yelled as he grabbed a large rock from the floor. One of the girls held an axe at the ready, looking towards the entryway. The first head of one of the creatures appeared and she let loose a high pitched, fearful battle cry as the axe came down and took the creature's head off in a swift motion. The others watched the head roll across the floor, and soon an air of vigour came into the dark barrow.

“Yeah! If they can die, we can kill them! Grab a rock or something and let’s rip them apart!” Another took up a blade from next to one of the tombs and stood ready, but most of the group had nothing to defend themselves with. Incensed by the murder of their member, the creatures swarmed inside like an army of cockroaches, leaping upon all of the teens. A scene of massacre began, with few of the creatures being killed or even harmed, but all of the group being ripped apart.

“We can’t fight these things! What do we do?!” Ania looked at Levai, who could offer her no pragmatic solution today. There was no quick thinking, no witty reply, and no smarmy comment, only rigid panic and fear. The feeling only worsened, when one of the creatures grabbed Ania. Levai tried to hold on to her, tried to fight, but in only a second, the horrible sound of tearing and popping came. Levai stood paralysed, holding Ania’s severed arm, watching as she was torn apart piece by piece by the spiny hands. Levai couldn’t think. He couldn’t breathe. This was insane. Why was this happening to them? Why was this happening to him? Only in moments did Levai feel spindly hands upon his shoulder, but he was numb to it. He was going to die here and there was nothing he could do. Then, like the rising energy in a volcano, something in Levai was building. He could feel it. A feeling, like pressure on his chest. It grew exponentially. So much that he could barely breathe. Then, a pulse shook through his entire body, causing him to buckle and go down to both knees. The ground violently rumbled, and the sounds of screaming all around him echoed in the chamber. Then, nothing. Silence. Levai gasped for air, trying to compose himself. As he inhaled, he raised his head and looked around. Everyone was gone. No friends, no other teenagers, and none of those creatures. He was alone.

As he looked around, Levai felt a severe burning on his abdomen. He let out a groan, feeling like someone was dragging a white hot dagger through his skin. The pain made him fall to his knees and bend over, head pressed against the cold stone floor as sweat rolled down and pooled on the ground. Levai clutched his belly and, when the pain began to subside, pulled his shirt up. His eyes widened as he looked upon a red, glowing symbol spread across his abdomen. It had a bunch of strange patterns and designs, looking like loads of differently formed circles, all inside one large circle. Levai couldn’t believe anything that was happening, and only the sound of his panting breath stopped him from thinking too much. Suddenly reality set in and Levai felt all of it. The smell of the blood mixed with the vomit on his shoulder, the pounding of his heart and chest and the pulsing of his veins. It was all so overwhelming and his body couldn’t stand it, as he hung his head and vomited a small puddle onto the stone floor. Coughing and wheezing, Levai discarded the coat he was wearing, wiping his mouth with it, and throwing it to the side. As he looked away from the floor, he saw the light dimly glowing from the giant jewel on his father’s staff, and noticed another faint white light nearby. Levai looked behind him and saw the archway glowing slightly, a strange lake of transparent liquid-like air flowing throughout the entrance. 

Levai slowly stood up, staring suspiciously at the archway. So many strange, dangerous, and simply horrific things had happened in such a short time, should he even continue? A part of him considered going back home, back to the safety of the walls. But then, there was no guarantee that he would even get home safely. Those things… who knew how many of them still waited out there. Of course, there was no guarantee that this was anything. The entire archway was still relatively transparent, maybe Levai was hallucinating from the shock. Maybe this whole day was only a nightmare. If it was, then what was the harm of walking through? If it wasn’t… Well, that was a question for afterwards. There wasn’t much choice left. Before pressing on, Levai looked among the bodies and at the surroundings. Taking some time, he gathered up the bodies he could identify, all of the others he came with, and looked around the barrow. Everything was made of stone, with small stone plaques here and there. At the sides of the barrow, were a few stone made coffins. Levai put his staff down, taking the time to push them open. The smell of rotting death filled his nose and he groaned in disgust. For a second, he questioned why he was doing this, but chased the thought away immediately, knowing that if he was the one that died, his mother wouldn’t want his body left to rot in nowhere. One by one, he carried the bodies of his friends and laid them into the coffins, closing them up when they were full. He buried the two brave ones with their weapons, and even looked out in the hole, considering going back for Drower’s body. But, it was out of fear for his own safety that he chose not to. Finally, he took Ania’s body, which wasn’t ripped up too much, and placed her in her own coffin, not with anyone else, and closed it up.

“I’ll get there, Ania. I’ll become the most powerful Warlock you’d have ever known.” For the first time, since he was a baby, Levai allowed himself a moment as he stood and held a hand on Ania’s coffin, with a few tears silently streaming down his face. After his moment, Levai steeled himself to face what was next, picking up his staff and heading towards the transparent part of the archway. At first he felt the touch of a breeze on his body, like the tiny tickle of an afternoon gust. Then, it felt like he was being pushed from behind. Propelled through extremely thick jelly that pressed down on his entire body and compressed him in a vacuum. In the next instant, he was out in a field in the middle of nowhere. Looking around, Levai spotted multiple groups of others that looked roughly his age, confusedly scanning the area. Some others looked much more composed, as if they were meant to be here. Some of the others were panicking a little, running around to look for a way back to wherever they came from, and one was even on the floor crying. Still shaken from what he’d done, Levai did his best to force the image of Ania’s corpse out of his head, and approached one of the other teenagers, tapping them on the shoulder in hopes of getting some answers.

“Hey, do you have any idea where we are?” he asked. The person turned around, and Levai almost leapt backwards in surprise and slight fear when he saw the person. Or as close to a person as it could be. The teenager had marks all over his face, lines that looked like painted carvings into his face, and pointed ears to go with them. It looked like he’d been in some horrific accident, but the marks on his face looked somewhat intricate and artistic as if they’d been put there by a marking artist. Levai looked around at the rest of the people and began to notice more peculiarities. Either he was experiencing some kind of fever dream, or he could swear he saw teenagers and young adults with horns on their heads of varying shapes and sizes. Others seemed to have some strange protrusions coming from their faces. Some others looked normal but seemed… almost too perfect to be Fél. As Levai stared around, the teen he approached walked past him rather hurriedly. He looked in the same direction to see a short circular platform adorned with markings in red. On top was a singular transparent box with some strange smoke swirling around inside. Levai got a little closer to the box, cautiously peering into it to see what was inside. Everyone was quiet and concentrating on him. Even the other boy stopped crying to take a look. As Levai reached for it, the box rattled violently, and a small, pale face appeared within the smoke.

“Welcome, prospects, to the Gholgrad Institute of Magic”, it said as the box burst open. The small smoke cloud erupted into a giant tornado of black, swirling in the air and encompassing everyone in its darkness. Levai covered his head and crouched to protect himself as the wind raged around him. Soon enough, it settled, and he uncovered himself to see a giant pillar of black smoke looming over them all, the pale face now much more revealing and showing a facial marking of sorts on its left eye, accompanied with bold red lips. It didn’t have hair specifically, but there seemed to be black strands of, what looked like, hair going down its face. Its lips didn’t move an inch, yet somehow it managed to speak.

“I am the Black Ward, and here you stand upon the Wardstone, ready to accept your fate as either successes… or failures”. Daunting, to say the least. As it spoke, Levai noticed that it wasn’t speaking Göndradhe, but Fōlclicg, one of the languages he learned in school. Thankfully, Levai excelled enough in Fōlclicg class to be able to understand it. Everyone was gathered in a circle around the Black Ward, and all of them looked like they had a lot of questions for it. The thing hovered and eyed them all with its piercing gaze, analysing each of them carefully. When the Ward rested its eyes on Levai, it appeared to linger for a good few seconds before carrying on.

“In order to gain access to the Institute, you must prove two things; that you are eligible and you are capable. This is why I am here, to weed out the weak. You must give a blood offering to the Wardstone and allow me to find out who will be granted passage…” it hummed. Levai looked around, noting that everyone else seemed to understand what the Ward said, and the reactions were mixed. Some scoffed and seemed to think this whole thing was ludicrous at best. Others seemed even more panicked at the thought of pouring their blood out. A knife appeared in front of each of them, floating in the air. Levai slowly took the knife in front of him. The longer he stared at it, the longer he became more angry. Flashes of his companions' faces filled his mind again, and then he snapped, giving out his best Fōlclicg to address the Ward.

“Are you sick in the head?!”, Levai threw the knife down, prompting the Black Ward to glare at him. A small well of fear dipped in his heart, but he was easily able to shake it away with all the fury he felt.

“I just watched my friends die and I had to drag their ripped up corpses to be buried! I’m covered in their blood and now you’re telling me to give you some of mine without questions? I’m not doing anything without answers!” Everyone went silent and the Black Ward only stared at Levai without words.

“Out of the way, whelp!” one of the others shouted as he marched over to the Wardstone, pushing past Levai, and effortlessly slit his forearm to let the blood flow down and drop onto the stone. The mark it spilt on glowed red, and he retreated to his spot.

“You are not the only one that saw horrible things to get here…” the boy whispered, speaking in Levai’s native tongue, and Levai looked down to notice a load of bite and scratch marks on his legs. His violet eyes and sharp teeth confirmed he was a Warlock, one that made a similar journey to him. Levai watched him retreat to his place, wrapping his arms around a girl that was shaking violently, staring off into the distance with a look of terror in her eyes. Later on, the timid boy that was crying inched toward the stone and, despite quivering like a leaf in the cold, he cut his arm, and a tiny spatter of blood fell onto a different symbol. Levai watched as numerous people walked toward the stone and made their offering. Looking up, he was startled as he saw the Ward’s eyes wholly fixed on him, even leaning closer as its entire body was turned to face him. Levai was somewhat alarmed, but he stood his ground. He knew what to do in situations like these, stare right back and maintain a rigid and large stance. The two had a stare-down for a good minute before one of the others a few yards behind could be heard yelling and panting. He tried his best to run far away but didn’t get far. A huge black tendril rose from the ground and wrapped itself around the boy’s neck, strangulating him and pulling him back.

“All must make their sacrifice. Even the unwilling,” the Ward warned him as he was dropped to the floor. Levai looked at the boy, a gargling mess on the floor, shaking violently. Looking back up at the Ward and, without a word, grabbed the boy by his wrist and dragged him up to the Wardstone. Grabbing his knife, he slightly slit the boy’s arm, shaking some of the blood out and doing the same for his own arm. Though his blood only landed on one of the symbols, the entire stone lit up like a blood-covered crime scene under bright lights. The Ward’s eyes immediately diverted to Levai and the stone. Its expression didn’t change, but Levai could tell it was confused somehow. Soon enough, everyone had made their contribution. The red symbols glowed dimly, and the Ward’s face disappeared momentarily. There was only silence as the stone continued glowing, but then the light died down, and the Ward’s face returned.

“I confess, I am disappointed. Another year without a full intake. How sad…” it said quietly as the tendrils returned. Levai watched with eyes wide, unable to look away, as the tendrils rose from the ground and wrapped around a good third of the prospects. They were slowly lifted into the air, kicking, screeching and struggling against the power of the tentacles. Each cried dearly for their friends and loved ones to come to their aid but obviously to no avail. A few of them gargled strange words that could’ve been different languages. Still, they sounded nothing like any of the languages Levai knew. Some of the onlookers shrieked in terror whilst the rest were frozen solid in their place, unable to take any action.

“Wait… stop!” Levai began to say as he approached the Black Ward, but his feeble protest was too little and too late. As sudden as the shot of a gun, the sound of simultaneous snapping pierced the air, and the bodies fell to the floor. There was nothing but silence across the empty field, and everyone, even those who couldn’t stand the sight, had their eyes fixed on the teens lying dead on the floor. The booming voice of the Black Ward spoke once more.

“As for the rest of you… you shall start today at the Gholgrad Institute. Consider this the first part of your entrance exam. Prepare now for the second…”.